


Protocol Says

by PFDiva



Series: Protocol AU [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Background Tim and Sasha, D/s AU, M/M, Timeline What Timeline, mild exhibitionism, protocol, random meeting, there's no sex but it's definitely both of them showing off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 19:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21361618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PFDiva/pseuds/PFDiva
Summary: Martin and Jon are together, but that doesn't stop people from commenting on what they should do or be.  They show folks they don't care.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Series: Protocol AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685569
Comments: 35
Kudos: 225





	Protocol Says

**Author's Note:**

> So, anybody remember those D/s AUs that used to be big before ABO? I decided to bring some of that back with dom Martin having collared sub Jon. Featuring ??? Elias and switches Tim and Sasha at the end. Also, a parade of judgy dom OCs, because reasons. There's no sex, but I'm a big fan of high protocol nonsense, so guess what I included? Lots of protocol nonsense! Enjooooooy!
> 
> Dedicated to the horny server and to CodyCat and Luuny in particular, for the continuing encouragement--I couldn't have done this with out you!

Martin honestly couldn't remember what this training was about. All that he knew was that of the 15 attendees, 7 were doms. The rest were subs and also Elias. Noone knew if Elias was a dom or a sub, and he wasn't sharing.

Either way, every dom in the room had tried, in the last three weeks, to give Martin advice about how to train Jon to be a better sub. Even Elias had requested Martin "do something" about Jon's generally ornery nature. Martin thought Elias deserved every bit of ornery Jon gave him, considering who and what he was, but that was beside the point.

The point was that subs were supposed to be polite and deferential and service-oriented and a lot of things that Jon just plain wasn't. Martin had thought collaring Jon would relieve the pressure. Not that relieving the pressure was why he'd done it. He'd done it because he loved Jon and Jon inexplicably loved him back.

Admittedly, it had taken them a ridiculously long time to figure that out--Jon was a university-educated, classically-trained submissive and Martin...was a uniquely ill-educated dominant. Even considering the fact that he'd never gone to uni. Martin had spent a lot of time unintentionally insulting Jon, and even longer failing to notice Jon's subtle shows of interest.

That wasn't a problem anymore. Now the problem was that people who had once disparaged Jon's behavior to his face came to Martin with said complaints. And Martin liked Jon just the way he was. It was why Jon had accepted his collar, why Jon wore it in public. It helped their relationship that Jon genuinely wasn't as ornery with Martin.

Martin didn't care if Jon was a good sub. It wasn't something he was well-educated in, and had never been something to care about until he met Jon. He just wanted Jon to be healthy, happy, and well. As long as those criteria were met well enough, who cared which hand he used for what, whether he lowered his eyes at the right time, or if he offered service appropriately?

In defense of the detractors, it wasn't like Jon lacked the knowledge. He just didn't want to. And he made a point of doing things wrong when his deficits were pointed out. Because he was spiky and spiteful like that. It was, in spite of how their relationship had begun, one of the things Martin liked about Jon. Besides that, Jon had made it through life before Martin (technically before Georgie, but no-one at the archives really knew her) just fine without a dom. And considering the sorts of complaints that had been brought to him, Martin fully understood why Jon would lack the desire to engage in elaborate politenesses for people who'd already told him he was substandard.

Either way, he found himself idly staring across the meeting table at Jon's hands. He might have stared at Jon's face or hair, but Jon was actually taking notes on the training. Unlike Martin, he understood the topic of discussion. His hands were the most active part of him right now, though he did keep looking up at the trainer to pay attention to what they were saying, to squint at the powerpoint, and so on. Occasionally, when lifting his left hand to ask a question, he would touch his collar with the fingers of his right, like it was a comfort to him. He never looked at Martin, but it still made him feel warm and soft inside.

After watching Jon absently tap at his collar with his pen, it occurred to Martin that he could easily get Jon to hand him something. A pen, a notepad, one of the highlighters floating around. He could even get the pen Jon was using right now--an expensive fountain pen that Martin actually couldn't use.

The thought wouldn't have occurred to Martin if it wasn't for the other doms at the Magnus Institute. They were forever claiming that Jon wasn't helpful enough. He wouldn't pass them pens or notepads; if he was reading a book someone else wanted, he'd put it away rather than trying to find them to give it to them; he refused to make tea for himself, much less anyone else. None of it seemed that important to Martin, but it didn't uphold appearances, even considering the fact that Jon was collared and expecting things like that of him was rude anyway. But Martin knew that if he asked for Jon's pen, he'd have it.

To test the idea, Martin reached his left hand out across the table, palm down, interrupting Jon's line of sight and unintentionally catching the attention of a few folks in the immediate vicinity. The subs went back to paying attention to the trainer or taking notes. The nearest doms, Emilie and Brant, watched Martin and Jon. They clearly expected nothing useful to come of his gesture. Martin ignored them.

Jon's head came up with an annoyed scowl that softened into a confused frown at the intrusion. They _were_ supposed to be learning something right now. Jon might actually have been absorbing information. He was good at that. Martin pointed at Jon's fountain pen, then turned his left hand palm up to ask for it. Jon looked even more confused, and a bit skeptical to boot. He lifted the pen to confirm what Martin was asking for. Martin nodded.

After another moment of annoyed frowning, Jon reached across the table to hand over his pen. He was left-handed, but didn't switch the pen to his right hand, even though it would have been more convenient. He wasn't happy about this.

He gave Jon a sheepish smile as thanks, briefly caressing Jon's fingers as he handed it over. Jon's face went a bit ruddy with pleasure, and he grabbed another, more generic pen from the center of the table with his right hand. All was forgiven. Brant and Emilie exchanged an annoyed glance that Jon probably missed. Martin didn't.

He did try to take notes with Jon's fountain pen, but he couldn't get the pressure right and kept leaking ink everywhere, when he got any on the paper at all. He'd heard something about pen nibs being expensive, and he was a bit terrified of ruining the tip of this one. It was one thing to take it from Jon to make a point. It was another to mess up something of Jon's for that same point.

Still, he felt quite pleased that his theory had been proven correct. It made up for all the ink. Just. Everywhere.

The trainer dismissed them for the first morning break, letting the subs who wanted to leave head out first, before gesturing for the doms to do the same. Not everyone left, of course, including Jon, who was still diligently taking notes, cross-referencing the powerpoint and adding answers to questions he'd asked.

"Jon?"

He looked up, and Martin offered the pen back with his right hand, "Thank you for letting me use your pen."

"I didn't know you even knew how to use one," Jon absently replied, taking his pen back with his left hand. He set the generic pen down with the same hand and briefly touched his collar with the right hand.

"I don't," Martin admitted, feeling pleased in spite of himself, "And I'm afraid I've ruined my notes. May I have a copy of yours, when training's over?"

Jon grimaced at his work, "You can't read my handwriting when I _don't_ have to write fast."

Martin laughed his agreement, "Yeah, that's...true, unfortunately. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I'll see what I can do," Jon huffed, which was more a yes than a no, especially when accompanied by him hooking a finger on his right hand into the collar.

Stephan, a dom who'd just witnessed this interaction, leaned in then, "Could I have a copy of your notes as well, Jon? I _can_ read your writing, so I'd just need a photocopy."

The look Jon gave Stephan could have frosted a train window in the middle of summer. "I'm certain the trainer has additional copies of the powerpoint if you ask for them," Jon replied, tugging at his collar with the finger already hooked in it, "That should be sufficient."

Stephan gave Martin an annoyed look, then slowly settled back into his own seat, visibly discontent. Martin didn't smirk at the man, but he felt immensely smug. Just because Jon wouldn't do what Stephan asked, it didn't mean he would fail to do what _Martin_ asked.

At the second morning break, Jon and Martin were among those who left the room to stretch, and Martin gently placed his left hand on Jon's left arm. Jon reflexively turned into the touch without looking up from his phone, "Can you do me a favor, Jon?"

"Sasha found some more information on the case," Jon replied, scrolling through his text messages rather than looking up. It was an explanation for why he wasn't looking up, not the dismissal Jordan's disdainful nose wrinkle suggested it sounded like. Jordan was yet another dom with opinions on how Jon should behave. Their opinions didn't matter. Martin simply resorted to idly tapping on Jon's arm with his thumb until he looked up from his phone, "What did you want?" Now he was on the same page as Martin.

"I need the toilet, but I'm also out of tea. Can you make me a new cup?" Jon's expression went annoyed.

"The lemon honey is only in the archives breakroom." The lemon honey was Martin's, so of course it was only in the archives' breakroom, even though the researchers' breakroom would have been much closer.

Martin gently squeezed Jon's arm, "I'm sorry to be inconvenient."

Jon's annoyed scowl ratcheted down to something softer with a faint sigh, "I suppose it can't be helped."

"Lunch on me," Martin offered, sparking a small smile from Jon, who turned away with an amused huff.

"And I suppose I'll be picking it up." He lifted his right hand in farewell and Martin couldn't help a nervous little titter. Of course Jon had picked up on the fact that Martin was about something. He was a very smart man.

Jordan was between Jon and the stairs to the archive. This gave Martin a perfect view of Jordan asking Jon to pick up another mug of tea on his way, and being soundly ignored. Jon didn't even deign to refuse, simply sidestepping them and heading down. They gave first Jon, then Martin an irritated look. Martin allowed himself a smirk this time. Jordan huffed their annoyance and turned away.

Martin did go to the toilet after that, then ordered lunch on his phone before returning to the training room. Jon was one of the last ones back. He probably took a detour to talk to Sasha. There was no small amount of surprise from the doms in the room when Jon set a steaming mug of tea before Martin with his right hand. Martin gave him a smile for it, which he didn't return, but the fingers of his left hand went to his collar again.

"You didn't bring enough for everyone?" Ashley pointedly asked. She was an older dom who had a new Jon training tip for Martin every other day.

"No," Jon baldly replied, taking his seat and curling the fingers of his left hand into his collar. Martin sipped his tea with great pleasure as the trainer resumed the class. Ashley got to chew on her bad attitude and the giggles of the other subs in the room.

When the class was dismissed for lunch, Jon confronted Martin outside the classroom to demand, "Well? What's lunch?"

"I ordered us both a curry from the shop down the road," Martin informed Jon, "And samosas."

Jon's face twisted with genuine irritation now, "That's half a mile away and they don't deliver."

"Yeah," Martin agreed, knowing he was pushing Jon's patience now by the way Jon curled the fingers of both hands around his collar, his knuckles digging into the soft spots under his chin. "I did get us onion bread and dessert, though. Already paid for." Martin didn't usually get dessert for himself, but Jon had a surprising sweet tooth. It was apology, and he knew Jon would know it.

"I had questions for the trainer," Jon grit out.

"Text them to me. I'll ask for you." Jon's face failed to untwist. Martin didn't understand what this training was about, and they both knew it. Jon finally stalked off without another word. Martin relaxed. He'd have said if he wasn't going to get it.

As proven by Jasmine asking if Jon would pick up her order, too. It was a request he flatly denied. She kept trying to give Martin advice on how to get Jon to dress nicer. It was clear from the advice she gave that she really did not understand the sort of person Jon was.

Jon did text Martin his questions, which Martin dutifully relayed to the trainer, sharing the information back to Jon. Martin hadn't gotten this far without developing a skill for pretending he understood things he absolutely did not, after all.

Things were better when Jon came back, and they had lunch together in relative peace and comfort. The food was tasty, the company was pleasant, and Jon leaned his shoulder against Martin's in tacit forgiveness. After eating everything Martin had gotten for him! Martin was so proud of him. He said as much. Jon grumbled, but he was obviously pleased by the praise.

Martin let Jon be after lunch, deciding he'd pushed his luck with Jon enough today. He made them both tea at the first afternoon break, then took the second to play a game on his phone in the training room.

He was interrupted by Jon coming around the large table in the training room towards him. Protocol dictated that doms sat on the side farthest from the exit, and subs got to sit on the side closest to it. Plus, Jon's seat had been across from Martin's all day. Martin was fairly certain Jon had intended that.

So Jon coming to Martin's side of the table was a confusing aberration, especially since he had a box of vending machine donuts in hand? Martin liked the vending machine donuts well enough, but Jon's tastes were a bit more finicky, most of the time. Martin had no objections to this, because Jon was perfectly capable of buying his own fancy pastries, and on the rare occasion Martin chose to indulge, he bought his own less fancy snacks.

By the time Jon had reached Martin's side, Martin realized the weirdest part: Jon hadn't lifted his gaze from the floor once. There wasn't anyone in his way, but this was one of those "traditional submissive mannerisms" that irritated Jon beyond reason. It was why he didn't _do_ it.

But now, gaze still on the floor, he offered Martin the donuts with both hands. In spite of Jon's deliberate refusal to behave as a "proper sub," it was important to him that people around him knew the right motions and mannerisms.

So Martin had learned. Mostly from the internet and Jon, but also from Tim and Sasha, who were both switches and had fun switching back and forth between dominant and submissive mannerisms. It drove Jon up the wall to see them in action when they were playing around. Mostly Tim, who would switch mannerisms throughout the day based on his mood, not only with Jon, but with everyone. Martin always felt a little bad about finding Jon's irritation funny, but it _was._

Sasha, like most switches, picked a set of mannerisms to use based on the person she was interacting with. She kept to submissive mannerisms with Jon, and dominant mannerisms with Martin. Which Jon claimed to be headache-inducing when she had to talk to both of them at the same time, but Martin thought was cool, once he understood a bit more.

Either way, Martin understood that Jon offering him donuts with both hands was a request to share them. It made it seem as though Martin had asked Jon to get these, and now Jon was asking if he could have some, too. Martin hadn't asked for them. In fact, he'd rather not have them at all right now. He might have just asked why Jon was doing this, but everything he'd learned suggested that behaving as if his sub's actions were surprising was a good way to embarrass said sub. Something about knowing the sub and being attentive, yadda yadda. So he kept his mouth shut.

He took the donuts from Jon with his left hand. For reasons he didn't really get, left indicated restraint, and right indicated enthusiasm. Martin took the donuts palm down, so that it was clear his answer was yes, but he wasn't very hungry right now, so he also signalled restraint.

Jon sank to his knees then, the motion graceful and practiced, his eyes still on the floor, his hands settling onto his knees. Martin could hear a faint murmur around them, but he was doing his best to avoid freaking out. Jon was still his superior. He didn't _do_ things like this at work because it was overly-demonstrative and, for them, more than a little intimate. It wasn't _disallowed,_ but in the same way making out with your partner wasn't disallowed--it wasn't precisely in good taste to do it where everyone could see you.

Still, Jon knelt next to Martin's chair, his hands lightly resting on his knees, head bowed, shoulders loose and easy. Martin settled his right hand in Jon's hair. Jon sank back to sit on his heels. Martin put one hand on each of Jon's cheeks, not quite cradling his face. If one hand was restraint and the other was enthusiasm, two was urgency. And Martin needed Jon to look at him _right now._

Jon's head came up like it was on a string, his gaze meeting Martin's, and for the first time, Martin could see that Jon was _furious._ Jon sometimes got passive-aggressive when he was angry at Martin, but that didn't usually translate to exquisite submissive mannerisms. There were other body language cues, but they weren't this.

Martin withdrew his hands, confused. Jon briefly and deliberately lowered his gaze, before lifting it to Martin's face again. Eyes down was meant to be the neutral resting state, so it was a sort of reset, whereas the sub looking the dom in the face was a very specific request for attention or understanding. Martin gave a little nod to show he was following, and Jon touched his collar with both hands, sending a thrill through Martin.

Touching the collar was a gesture to indicate the bond between submissive and dominant, while the kneeling was a very open declaration of submissive intent. In this case, the motions combined meant that Jon was very strongly signalling that he was Martin's. Martin couldn't help but smile, pleased. He was still confused, but also giddily happy. Some of the anger in Jon's face drained away as he smiled back.

Jon set his hands back on his knees without averting his gaze, to reset himself again. Then he lifted the fingers of his left hand to his lips and deliberately tipped his head to the right. He wasn't any hungrier for vending machine donuts than Martin, it seemed, but he still wanted Martin to share them, and to do it enthusiasically.

Martin was starting to suspect that Jon was trying to make a point to someone that wasn't him. Martin had done the same that morning. It was only fair.

He checked his cellphone for the time--they still had 8 minutes--then gave Jon another little nod. Jon's hand dropped back to his knees.

Martin set a timer on his phone for 5 minutes, showing it to Jon and getting a nod of agreement, then set the phone aside. He spent the next few minutes lovingly feeding Jon cinnamon donuts. He took his time, breaking each one into small pieces before popping them into Jon's obligingly-open mouth, or eating one himself.

By the time the timer went off, they'd eaten two of the small donuts between them, leaving four in the little package. Martin shut off the alert, brushed off his hands, then offered both down to Jon.

Jon took Martin's hands and used them to help him get to his feet. He looked graceful, but Martin could feel how much Jon needed the support. He wasn't exactly used to doing that, especially not on a hard tile floor. Jon gave Martin's hands a squeeze when he was ready, and Martin squeezed his hands back before letting go.

With that, Jon walked back around the table, sparing a moment to look down his nose at Elias, telling Martin who Jon had been showing off for. Not that Elias was the only one who'd noticed--the entire room stared at Jon like he was something shocking and awe-inspiring. Martin smiled at the leftover donuts in the package as he twisted it closed enough to not spill or attract bugs.

Their discretion at work was always for Jon's benefit, not Martin's. Martin would dote on Jon every hour of every day if Jon let him. It was nice to have the chance to gloat, once in a while. It was even nicer that Jon had initiated it. Elias must have made him very angry, indeed.

When he asked Jon at the end of the day, Jon shrugged and carelessly explained that Elias had intimated that Jon's refusal to be a "good" submissive meant he didn't know how because Martin was a bad dominant.

Jon had apparently decided to show Elias that his skills were for Martin, and noone else.

Martin decided he could live with that.


End file.
